Device for connecting minute distributing circuit elements and minute connecting wire elements

ABSTRACT

A device for connecting minute electric circuit elements with wire elements is disclosed. The connections are made by soldering, heat being supplied by an infrared lamp. A preinspecting system having an inspection head is provided. This system provides electrodes spaced to correspond to the spacing between circuit elements, which are utilized to evaluate the integrity of the electric circuit elements. A connection inspection system, using a bridge circuit is also provided. Open terminals of the bridge circuit are connected with a scanning device to determine the resistance of each element.

United States Patent [191 Kobayashi et al.

[ Feb. 25, 1975 DEVICE FOR CONNECTING MINUTE DISTRIBUTING CIRCUITELEMENTS AND MINUTE CONNECTING WIRE ELEMENTS Inventors: ToshihikoKobayashi, Tokyo;

Tetsusaburo Kamibayashi, Shinza; Satoshi Ichioka, Toda; YukinoriMatsushima, Tokyo; Norio Mitsumoto, Toda; Hirohisa Ono; Kazuo Onishi,both of Tokyo, all of Japan Assignee: Mishima Kiesan Co., Ltd., FukoukaPrefecture, Japan Filed: Dec. 29, 1972 Appl. No.: 319,713

Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 3l, l97l Japan 47-825 US. Cl.219/85, 219/109 Int. Cl. B23k 1/02 Field of Search 219/85, 109

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,289,046 ll/l966 Carr219/85 X 3,604,108 9/l97l Mallery.... 219/85 X Primary Examiner-J. V.Truhe Assistant Examiner-N. D. Herkamp Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [57] ABSTRACT A device for connectingminute electric circuit elements with wire elements is disclosed. Theconnections are made by soldering, heat being supplied by an infraredlamp. A pre-inspecting system having an inspection head is provided.This system provides electrodes spaced to correspond to the spacingbetween circuit elements, which are utilized to evaluate the integrityof the electric circuit elements. A connection inspection system, usinga bridge circuit is also provided. Open terminals of the bridge circuitare connected with a scanning device to determine the resistance of eachelement.

1 Claim, 12 Drawing Figures -o AC SOURCE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device forconnecting minute distributing circuit elements with minute connectingwire elements, and more particularly to a heat radiation connectingdevice having inspection means to inspect the elements after theconnection has been completed.

2. Prior Art The remarkable progress in the field of electronics inrecent years has brought-about improvements, such as miniaturization andhigh compactness, in electrical circuits which are used as basiccomponent elements of various types of electronic devices and apparatus.This is greatly due to the development of so-called printed circuitry.

However, the soldering generally used for connecting miniaturizedelectric circuits to the associated circuitry in an outside appliancesuch as a machine, tool, etc., is almost entirely performed by skilledmanual labor. A strong demand is therefore voiced for novel devices ornew techniques that improve efficiency and can also solve the problem ofnon-uniformity of connections which inevitably accompanies manualsoldering to realize perfect uniformity of product quality.

Great difficulty is also oftenexperienced in industrially confirming thecondition of electric insulation between the individual circuits and incase some failure or breakdown should take place in the insulation between circuits while the circuits are being conveyed after initialconfirmation of conduct integrity it has been practially impossible toreconfirm the insulation status before proceeding to the connectingoperations. Hence quite a number of substandard or inoperative articlesare produced. This has been a great obstruction to the effectiveutilization of the new technology and also is extremely uneconomicalsince a single defective connection would oblige abondonment of manyother normal circuits.

It has been also impossible to confirm the condition of circuitconnections immediately after the connections are made, and hence adefective connection is often found after circuit incorporation has beencompleted. This has been another deleterious factor relat ing to workingefficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed withthe object of eliminating the above-noted defects and difficulties thathave attended the conventional circuit connecting process. To this end,the subject invention provides a novel device for allowing perfectconnections of minute distributing circuit elements, which device iscapable of confirming the existance of insulation between the circuitsto be connected, so that the insulation-confirmed circuit can beconnected to another circuit, and is also capable of confirming whetherthe connection between the circuits is proper after such connection hasbeen completed.

It is also an-object of the present invention to provide a device whichpermits confirmation of the integrity of the insulation between theconductors in a miniaturized 2 and highly compact distributing circuitquickly, accurately and with ease, immediately prior to the connectingoperation.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide aconnecting device which is able to markedly improve the workingefficiency when connecting a distributing circuit to another circuit.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an insulationconfirming device which is capable of confirming the integrity ofconnection between the circuits after the connection operation quickly,accurately and with ease.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete understanding of thepresent invention may be had by reading the following detaileddescription of the invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram embodying the device according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view thereof but showing only an essential partthereof;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a detection head;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view taken along the line V-Vof FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plane view showing the aligned positional relationshipbetween a base plate and a connecting terminal assembly;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view taken along the lineVI-VI of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a heating lamp moving mechanism in aconnecting device;

FIG. 9 is a end view of the slider with an infrared lamps shown in FIG.8;

FIG. 10 is a plane view showing a situation where the connectingelements of a terminal board are connected to the corresponding contactterminals of a connecting board;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line XI-XI of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 is a plane view showing a fixed condition of the base plateafter connection has been completed.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings,there is shown a connecting device, generally designated by numeral 1,according to the present invention. The device is comprised of aninsulation confirmation section 3, where the condition of the insulationof the parts to be connected is confirmed. a connection section 4, wherethe parts are electrically connected, an inspection section 5, where thecondition of the connection formed by said connection section 4 isascertained and an illumination section 7 including an illumination lamp6 for facilitating the positioning of the parts when performingconnection thereof, said illumination lamp being controlled by operatinga switch 6A.

The insulation confirmation section 3 includes a current shut-offcircuit 12 made up of an electromagnetic relay and other associatedelements, and a plug socket assembly 15 in which an attachment plug 14of detection head 13 (which is described later) is insertable. Thecurrent shut-off circuit 12 and plug socket assembly 15 are connected inseries to the output side of a rectifier 11 which is supplied at itsinput side with an AC voltage through a voltage regulator from an ACpower source. There is also provided an indicator lamp 16 connected inparallel to said plug socket assembly 15, and current may be appliedeither to said socket assembly or to said indicator lamp 16 through saidcurrent shut-off circuit 12.

Circuit elements to be connected are shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 6and 7. Circuit elements 18 are distributed along the upper side of abase plate 17 as well known in the art. Such base plate may be a memoryplate on which elements 18 are arranged. Each of the elements 18 may be50;). wide and spaced apart 50a. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 a detectionhead 13 provides a plurality of parallel electrodes 19 arranged on abase plate 3a. The width and space of the electrodes 19 correspond tothe width of each element 18 and the distance between each adjoiningelements so that each of said electrodes will fit with a correspondingone of the elements 18 on the base plate 17. It is to be also noted thatthe lead wires (not shown) of the alternate electrodes 19 are connectedto one plug 14A of the attachment plug assembly 14 and the lead wires ofthe remaining electrodes are connected to the other plug 14B.

Thus, for joining the electrodes 19 of the detection head 13 to thecorresponding terminals of the respective elements 18 of the base plate17, said detection head 13 and base plate 17 are pressed together by apressing means 20 provided in the connecting device 1. This pressingmeans 20 is designed to allow vertical movement of a flat horizontalpressing plate 21 with rotation of a rotary member 22 (shown in FIG. 2).First,

the detection head 13 and base plate 17 are positioned.

relative to each other so that the electrodes 19 in said head arepositioned opposite the corresponding termin'als of the respectiveelements 18 on the base plate 17 (this positioning is usually conductedby using a microscope), and then this assembly is placed'on a supportblock 1A (shown in FIG. 8) and then a handle 22a of said rotary member22 is turned to lower the pressing plate 21, whereby the assembly can besecurely held between said support block 1A and pressing plate 21.Discussion is now directed to the connection section 4. It will be seenthat a fusing heat radiating means 26,- for example an infrared lamp,and an ammeter 27 adapted to measure the applied current are connectedto the DC output of the rectifier 11 through a switch 25. An indicatorlamp 29 is connected in parallel to said fusing heat radiating means 26.i

Numeral 30 refers to a transformer, having its primary side connected toan AC power source through a switch 31 and the secondary side connectedto the input side of a rectifier 32. The DC output of said rectifier 32is adjusted by an adjusting knob 33 and is connected to a transfer motor35 through a switch 34. The condition of said motor 35 is indicated by alamp 36. The infrared lamp 26 is movable in the direction of arrows inFIG. 8. As seen in FIG. 8, a horizontal guide bar 37 extends out from aframe plate 1B and is slidably passed through a hole 28a in a slider 28which supports said infrared lamp 26. Below and parallel to said guidebar 37 is provided a lead screw 38 which is threadedly engaged along alength thereof with a threaded hole 28b in said slider 28. Thus, whensaid lead screw 38 is rotated by operating said motor 35, the infraredlamp 26 is accordingly moved in the direction of the arrows, that is,along the length of said lead screw 38, either forwardly or backwardlyaccording to the direction of rotation of said lead screw.

Referring now to the inspection section 5, numeral 40 denotes aninspector contactor made of an electroconductive material. The fore endportion 40a is formed smaller than the width of each connecting element39a on a connecting terminal board 39 so that it will not overlap andsimultaneously contact the adjoining elements 34. This contactor 40 isdriven by a motor 41 to move in the direction of arrows in FIG. 2, saidmotor 41 being connected to the DC output side of the rectifier 32through a speed regulator 43. The contactor 40 is also electricallyconnected to one of the open terminals 52 of a variable resistance 48 ina bridge circuit 45. The other open terminal of said variable resistancemember 48 in said bridge circuit 45 is connected to one of the openterminals of another resistance member 46, the other open terminalthereof being in turn connected to one of the open terminals of stillanother resistance member 47. Further, a terminal 50', which extends outfrom the other open terminal 50 of said resistance member 47, iselectrically connected to a metal bar which can span one end of each ora plurality of circuit elements by urging the bar by pressing plate 21.One example of the bar 80 is shown in FIG. 12.

Connected between the terminals 51 and 52 of said bridge circuit 45 is aconnection confirmation circuit 82 which includes an ammeter 55 adaptedto measure the electric current flowing through said circuit, andindicator lamps 56 and 57 connected in parallel thereto. The electriccircuits of these indicator lamps 56 and 57 are made and brokenaccording to the value of electric current measured by said ammeter 55,and the operation thereof is controlled by a control unit 55' and aswitch 83.

To state it another way, the system is arranged such that when theelectric current flowing between said terminals 51 and 52 of the bridgecircuit 45 is greater than a predetermined setting current, switch 83 isconnected to the terminal 57a of the indicator lamp 57 to complete acircuit including lamp 57, while when the current flowing between saidterminals 51 and 52 is smaller than the setting current, said switch 83is now connected to the terminal 56a of the indicator lamp 56 so as toactivate lamp 56. If the flowing current is equal to the setting current(or when the device is not used), said switch 83 is not connected toeither of the terminals 56a and 57a but is connected to the terminal 82aof the circuit 82. The indicator lamp 56 will also go on if a faultyconnection is produced. That is, when soldering the ends of the elementson the base plate to the corresponding ends of the connecting elementsin the connecting terminal board by applying heat rays from the infraredlamp 26, if said ends of the two groups of elements to be connected arenot perfectly joined together but produce a faulty connection, said lamp56 goes on to indicate such abnormality. 0n the other hand, indicatorlamp 57 will go on if, during such connecting works, fused solder flowsout to form a bridge between adjoining elements.

Between the AC source and said voltage regulator 10 and transformer 30are provided timers 60, 61, a relay 62 and a switch 63, whereby an ACcurrent is supplied intermittently to said voltage regulator 10 andtransformer 30.

Numerals 65 and 66 denote switches, of which the switch 66 is operatedresponsive to said switch 25. Switches 31 and 34 are ganged and operatesimultaneously. The operation of the device of the present invention,will now be discussed.

First, the condition of of insulation of the base plates 17, 17, theconnecting terminal board 39 to which the respective elements 18, 18 ofsaid both base plates 17, 17' are to be connected, and the connectingterminals of the terminal board 70 which is for connecting the elements18 of said base plate 17 to an outside machine, apparatus or such, isconfirmed in the insulation confirmation section 3'.

The confirmation in this insulation confirmation section 3 is performedin the following manner. The elements 18, 18 of both base plates 17,17', or the connecting elements of the terminal boards 39, 70, are fixedto the corresponding electrodes 19 of the detection head 13 as describedabove, and then the attachment plug 14 is inserted in the plug socket15. If any bridges exist between the elements l8, 18 of the base plates17, 17 and/or between the connecting elements of the connecting terminalboards 39, 70, causing faulty insulation, current flows through thecurrent shut-off circuit 12, whereby the relay 12A is engerized whichlights the indicator lamp 16. Thus, the integrity of the insulation ofthe respective elements can be confirmed by reference to the lamp 16.

After the above-said confirmation, the ends of the elements 18 of thebase plate 17 are connected to the corresponding elements 39a of theconnecting terminal board 39 in the connection section 4. The connectingterminal board 39 is composed of a flexible synthetic resin sheet onwhich a plurality of small connecting elements 390, made of anelectroconductive material, are disposed in an appropriate arrangement.Needless to say, the dimensions and pitch of these elements 39a areselected to conform to those of the elements 18 on the base plate 17.Also, although not shown, solder is attached to the ends of theseconnecting elements 39a.

In operation, the connecting terminal board 39 is laid on the base plate17 such that the ends of the connecting terminals 39a of the terminalboard 39 are located right" on the ends of the corresponding elements 18of the base plate 17 as shown in FIG. 7. Correct positioning of therespective elements 18 and 39a is performed by using a microscope.

The base plate 17 and connecting terminal board 39, thus correctlylocated relative to each other, are retained in such position by usingthe aforementioned pressing means 20 in the following manner. Theattached base plate 17 and connecting terminal board 39, with theirelements 18 and 39a properly aligned and in contact, are placed betweenthe infrared lamp 26 and bed plate 1A along the direction of movement ofsaid lamp 26, and then handle 22a is turned to lower the pressing plate21 so as to securely hold the superimposed portions of said base plate17 and terminal board 39 between said bed plate IA and pressing plate21. The pressing plate 21 is made of a heat permeable material such asfor example quartz glass. Thereafter, motor 35 is driven to rotate thelead screw 38 to accordingly move the infrared lamp 26 along the lengthof said screw, and heat rays are generated from said moving infraredlamp 26 and directed toward the attached ends of the elements 18 and 39aof the base plate 17 and terminal board 39 to melt the solder at theelement ends and thereby join the elements 18 with the correspondingconnecting elements 39a. The joining of the other ends of the connectingelements 39a of said terminal board 39 with the corresponding ends ofthe elements 18 of base plate 17 can be performed in the same way. Thesame operation can be also employed for effecting the connection of therespective elements 70a of the connecting terminal board 70 which isused for connecting the other ends of the elements 18 of the base plate17 to an outside machine, tool or such.

Like the connecting terminal board 39, said terminal board 70 iscomposed of a synthetic resin sheet with a plurality of connectingelements 70a disposed on its upper surface in suitable arrangement. Itis to be noted that the ends of the connecting elements 700, on the sidewhere they are to be connected to an outside machine are provided with agreater pitch than that given to their ends which have previously beenconnected to the respective elements 18 of the base plate 17, so as tofacilitate the connecting operation (see FIG. 10). The length of timefor which the infrared lamp 26 is lit, and the time during which thelamp travels along screw 38 are controlled by timers and 61,respectively.

In this way, the connection of respective elements of the base platesl7, 17', with the connecting terminal board 39 and the connection ofelements of the base plate 17 with the connecting terminal board (usedfor connecting said elements to an outside machine) are effected in apreferred form.

For inspecting the condition of these connections in the inspectionsection 5, one of the open terminals 50 of the bridge circuit 45 isconnected to a plate 72 to which said base plates l7, 17' are fixed (seeFIG. 12), and then the contactor 40, to which the other open terminal 52of said bridge circuit 45 is connected, is also electrically connectedto the open ends of the contacting elements 70a of the connectingterminal board 70 in a successive manner. The balancing of the bridgecircuit 45 is set by using a standard sample in which appropriateconnection has been made beforehand. This setting is performed byadjusting the variable resistance member 48. At this time, the amount ofelectric current flowing between the terminals 51 and 52 is memorized asthe setting 'current by the control unit 55'.

Thus, when the contactor 40 is electrically connected successively tothe open ends of the respective connecting elements 700, if eachconnection has been properly completed, the balance of the bridgecircuit 45 is maintained, but if any faulty connection is present, acurrent higher or lower than the setting current is detected by themeter 55 in the confirmation circuit 82 and the switch 83 is operated bythe control means 55 in accordance with this detected current value soas to light the indicator lamp 57 in the case a bridge has been formedand to light the indicator lamp 56 in the case an inperfect connectionhas been produced.

It is to be noted that when successively contacting the contactor 40 andthe ends of the respective elements 70a of the connecting terminal board70, if said contactor 40 is directly contacted with said respectiveelement ends, said elements 70a may be damaged. It is thereforeadvisable to use an intermediate connecting plate 77 such as shown inFIGS. 10 and 11. This connecting plate 77 is made of an insulatingmaterial such as synthetic resin, and contact terminals 79 are arrangedalong a stepped portion 78 in conformity to the width and pitch of theelements 70a of the terminal board 70. The connecting terminal board 70is placed on this connecting plate 77 and the ends of the respectiveconnecting elements 70a are connected to the corresponding contactterminals 79. Thus, the above-said inspection is carried out bysuccessively contacting the contactor 40 with the respective contactterminals 79 of the connecting plate 77, whereby it is possible to avoidany damage to the connecting elements 70a of the connecting terminalboard 70.

As described above, the connecting device according to the presentinvention has an insulation confirmation mechanism whereby the conditionof insulation of the parts to be connected can be confirmed beforeconnecting the base plate to the parts to be connected such asconnecting terminal board, so that it is possible to prevent any failureor trouble caused by faulty insulation that may take place after theconnection has been made. The present device also has a connectingsection where quick and secure connection can be achievedsemi-automatically, thereby realizing remarkable improvement ofworkability and productivity as com-- pared with the conventional manualpractices. Further, the parts connected in the connecting section areimmediately subjected to inspection in the inspection section to ensureperfect exclusion of the defective or nonconforming articles.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for connecting minute distributing circuit elements withminute connecting wire elements, commeans by said lead wires, saiddetection head having a plurality of electrodes arranged in parallel andspaced to correspond to the spacing between circuit elements, saidplurality of electrodes being alternatively coupled to said lead wires,said signal means adapted to be actuated when a short circuit betweenlead wires is detected;

a connecting means for connecting the elements after testing by saidinsulation confirmation means and comprised of a heat radiation sourcefor heating solder used to connect the elements, a vertically movablepressing plate for pressing the wire elements to the circuit elements,said pressing plate being positioned adjacent said heat radiation sourceand being heat transparent, and means coupled to said heat source formoving said heat source along the elements being connected for properheating; and an inspection means for inspection after said elements havebeen connected by said connecting means and comprised of a bridgecircuit having two open terminals, a contact member connected with oneopen terminal of said bridge circuit and adapted to electrically contactall of said circuit elements via said pressing plate, a scanning membercoupled to the other of said open terminals and adapted to sequentiallyscan the other ends of said circuit elements through said wire elements,and indication means coupled to said bridge circuit for indicatingfaultily connected wire elements, in response to the value of resistancebetween said terminals.

1. A device for connecting minute distributing circuit elements withminute connecting wire elements, comprising: an insulation confirmationmeans comprised of a detection head, two lead wires and a signal means,said detection head being coupled to said signal means by said leadwires, said detection head having a plurality of electrodes arranged inparallel and spaced to correspond to the spacing between circuitelements, said plurality of electrodes being alternatively coupled tosaid lead wires, said signal means adapted to be actuated when a shortcircuit between lead wires is detected; a connecting means forconnecting the elements after testing by said insulation confirmationmeans and comprised of a heat radiation source for heating solder usedto connect the elements, a verticalLy movable pressing plate forpressing the wire elements to the circuit elements, said pressing platebeing positioned adjacent said heat radiation source and being heattransparent, and means coupled to said heat source for moving said heatsource along the elements being connected for proper heating; and aninspection means for inspection after said elements have been connectedby said connecting means and comprised of a bridge circuit having twoopen terminals, a contact member connected with one open terminal ofsaid bridge circuit and adapted to electrically contact all of saidcircuit elements via said pressing plate, a scanning member coupled tothe other of said open terminals and adapted to sequentially scan theother ends of said circuit elements through said wire elements, andindication means coupled to said bridge circuit for indicating faultilyconnected wire elements, in response to the value of resistance betweensaid terminals.